Male Bonding
by RanMinamino
Summary: You mean ta tell me that you expect to get April the perfect Valentine's gift in less that FIVE HOURS THE DAY AFTER THE FREAKIN' HOLIDAY!" "Yeah, that's what I'm sayin!" Late V-Day One shot.


Disclaimer: I do not own Ninja Turtles. Or even any piece of the NY sewer system. I've been to the airports, and that's it. (Trust me, I thought of them when I was switching planes.)

* * *

"Valentine's Day was YESTERDAY, you knucklehead," came a voice from underneath the large armored car. Music came from inside the vehicle, but low enough for the boys to hear each other. Green legs stuck out, their owner beneath the vehicle also known as the Battle Shell.

"Yeah, but Ape's been outta town with her folks, Raph, and with us bustin' up that ring... I ain't had time to think about it." Excuses spewed forth from a human male leaning against the painted green metal. His pale blue eyes contrasted with the long dark hair upon his muscular form.

"And nothin', ya big sap." A sound of wheels on the pavement underneath and the second eldest turtle revealed himself, reluctantly pulling away from his work on the engine. "You do know you shoulda had this done forever ago." A sigh escaped the snout beneath the red headband. "When is she due back?"

The older of the two floundered for a few moments. "What time is it?"

A roll of eyes and the turtle opened the driver's seat to peer at the clock. "Eleven thirteen."

"Oh. Her plane gets in at 4."

"You've got to be fu—" A deep breath. "Please tell me you're kiddin', Case."

"On my word of honor, dude."

Another sigh was heard along with a smack of a three fingered hand against its owner's face. "You mean ta tell me that you expect to get April the perfect Valentine's gift in less than _five_ _HOURS THE DAY AFTER THE FREAKIN' HOLIDAY?!!!_"

"Uh, yeah, that's what I'm sayin'! Nice censoring by the way, Raph."

The feral growl that escaped the hothead's lips was enough to unnerve the vigilante before him. "And lemme guess... You want _me_ to help."

"Please?" Casey tried to copy the ever effective pout of his best friend's little brother.

Raphael heaved another sigh and tossed his wrench into the toolbox. "Lemme get my coat..."

* * *

So it came to be that the two guys found themselves in the nearly deserted and empty shelved aisle at the local grocery store. Both looked uncomfortable at the stuffed animals, and Casey's eyebrows twitched. "Do you think she'll get mad if I get her a gift card next year?"

"Yes." Raph peeked out from under his baseball cap, glad the day was overcast, the forecast predicting rain. "This can't be that hard. We'll treat it like... recon. Scope out the aisle and report back here in one minute with your findings."

Casey shrugged and dodged his way through displays of children's Valentine's cards, very small stuffed animals, and a lone early Easter display to get to the other side, where a few boxes of candy remained on the shelves.

It wasn't long before the man was sweating bullets with indecision. He grabbed the first thing his hands touched and hurried back to the rendezvous, also known as an empty Hershey's display.

Raph was already there, tapping his foot impatiently, holding a vase of roses in April's favorite color. "What took ya?"

"I froze up, man! It's scary over there!"

"Suck it up and show me whatcha got." The heavy vase stayed balanced in both of his hands, effectively impeding his view of what Casey held.

Thrusting out the bag, he looked at it as his friend laughed. "_Conversation Hearts?_ You're not getting into _anybody's_ pants with those, let alone April's."

"I told you, I panicked," Casey exclaimed as his best friend continued to laugh at him. "And I'm not trying to get in her pants..." The mocking laughter turned slowly into snickers, punctuated with an arched brow. He put his head to the side as if to see if anyone was watching him. "Okay, maybe I _am_ trying. But that's not the point!"

Raph was trying his hardest not to laugh, but the situation they found themselves in was just too... funny. "Then if you want in her pants, Case, you'd better do a little better than _that._" He headed towards the candy himself, intending to look at what was available. "So let's go put that away, and get somethin' better."

The raven haired man frowned. "At least I ain't goin' over there alone this time," he said, following behind the terrapin. They arrived at the other side of the aisle, whereupon Raphael thrust the roses into Casey's arms. "Hey!"

"You want my help or not?" A gulp told him all he needed to know. "Then shut up and hold the pretty flowers, Jones." Only mild grumbling followed from behind the rose petals, so Raphael looked at the available selection. Now, he'd never dated a girl, mind you, but that doesn't mean he hadn't watched a lot of television where girls received candy. Usually they came in.... Aha. The lone heart shaped box sat behind a box of jellybeans, so he snatched it up. It wasn't as big as in Master Splinter's soap operas... but it was all that was there. "This one should do, I think." He took the flowers back, and handed Casey the candy. "Now go get her a card, doofus." Casey looked around, and blinked before being kicked by Raph's foot. "The front of the store, knucklehead."

"I knew that!" Casey moved forward to the cards, gulping anew when they were all very serious and mushy like. "Uh... Raph... you wouldn't happen to know what else we could do besides cards, would ya buddy?"

A new voice spoke from behind them. "Late V-day gift?" came the low voice, and the two turned around to see one of the cashiers. "If she doesn't love this, she doesn't have a romantic bone in her body..."

* * *

Casey pulled into the airport pick up area, and climbed out of the car he'd rented so he wouldn't drive a heavily armored car up to the airport and arouse suspicion. "April! How was your trip, babe?"

She smiled wearily and set her bags down. "It was a lesson in patience, that's for sure. Backseat or trunk," she asked, waving a hand to her luggage.

"Ah, trunk. I'll go pop it," Casey said, reaching into the car, and holding the button down. "Kay, babe, try it, I think it might stick a little," he said, peeking, making sure the roses and candy were safe in the passenger seat.

The redhead made a face, used to her boyfriend's insensitivity, and reached out to pull the trunk open, only to be assaulted with helium balloons of red white and pink before they floated to the sky. Her gaze went back to the trunk, green eyes wide, to see the painted sign on the lid of the open trunk. 'Happy Cupid Day. I Love You.' It took a second for this to sink in, before she smiled at her boyfriend, who was now leaning against the driver's side door, looking as if this whole idea had never phased him in the first place. "Love ya, babe," he said. "Let's go home."

She smiled and slung her duffel and computer bag into the trunk carefully, shutting it and heading towards the passenger side door. Once she opened it, she stared in shock at the roses on the seat, situated perfectly. "Casey... you shouldn't have...."

"Well if I'd have known that I wouldn't have gone...." he shuts himself up as he slides into the driver's seat, and says instead. "I mean uh... you're worth it, babe."

A slight chuckle escaped the redhead as she took her seat after placing the roses in her lap. "Let's go home, Jones. See what I can do to thank you."

A few hours or so later, Raph checked his cell as it lit up on his table while he was lifting weights. He slid it open to reveal a text from Casey. _Remind me to say thx to the cashier dude._

A growl escaped him. Who picked out the flowers after all?

* * *

FIN


End file.
